Part A: GrammarDirections: Choose the word or phrase (1), (2), (3) or (4) that best completes each sentence. Then mark the answer on your answer sheet.

1- A suite of instruments called MUPUS that included a probe and hammer ------------------.

1) were activated first

2) was one of the first activated

3) were one of the first to activate

4) which was the first to be activated

2- These speeches about equal opportunities raise all kinds of issues, but ---------------.

1) at their heart are two opposing ideas about what it takes to succeed

2) about what success takes at their heart there are two opposing ideas

3) about what success takes are two ideas opposing at their heart

4) what it takes to succeed two opposing ideas are at their heart

3- Ebola rages on in West Africa. More cases outside the hardest hit countries are inevitable, -----------------.

1) then seeds further outbreaks elsewhere

2) thereby it seeds outbreaks even further

3) and they could seed further outbreaks

4) with outbreaks that seed further

4- ------------------ companies will have to make millions of doses, and for that the vaccine needs to be licensed, fast.

1) To make a real difference to this epidemic

2) This epidemic to be really made different

3) Having made this epidemic really different

4) For really making a difference of this epidemic

5- Rising above the endless plains of Saskatchewan, Canada’s Boundary Dam power plant looks like any other: giant boxes ---------------, and a mess of pipes and power lines.

1) with chimneys so stripped to be as tall, red and white

2) stripped with chimneys being tall, red and white

3) are stripped with tall red and white chimneys

4) tall red-and white-striped chimneys

6- A report published on Monday says that extreme weather, rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall and rising oceans could fuel armed insurgency ----------------- a pandemic, through their effects on political instability, poverty, migration and resource disputes.

1) to a heightened impact on

2) and heighten the impact of

3) by heightening impact of

4) and an impact heightened by

7- A black hole in a nearby galaxy is blowing a mighty wind, breaking a long-accepted rule about the rule at which black holes can feed. The discovery suggests that even small black holes may play a larger role -----------------.

1) of the evolution of galaxy was realized than previously

2) for realizing galaxy evolution than any time previous

3) rather man previously realized in galaxy evolution

4) in galaxy evolution than previously realized

8- Modern cosmology has been spectacularly successful at explaining why the universe is as it is— ------------- pockmarked with stars and galaxies.

1) Not so many devoted nowhere in science and yet created so little consensus

2) Nowhere in science have so many devoted so much to create so little consensus

3) Not anywhere in science has existed so many consensus between so many devoting

4) Never anywhere has so little consensus so many devoted and created than in science

10- Oxygen also joins with the trace elements, forming metal oxides and phosphates. It is these compounds that make up the solid ash, which is an excellent fertilizer, ------------- nearly all the minerals originally taken from the soil.

1) give back

2) giving back

3) and gives back

4) thereby giving back

Part B: VocabularyDirections: Choose the word or phrase (1), (2), (3) or (4) that best completes each sentence. Then mark the answer on your answer sheet.

11- The ---------------- and skill with which Cranmer did the work entrusted to him must have fully satisfied his master.

1) encomium

2) impassivity

3) celerity

4) transcendence

12- Only if his message isn’t ------------------- or drowned out or misunderstood will an accident be averted.

1) garbled

2) bemused

3) raucous

4) sacrosanct

13- We respectfully ask you to complete that review and take all necessary steps to ----------------- this iniquitous policy as soon as possible.

1) belie

2) countenance

3) entangle

4) overturn

14- He, who has endured such vicissitudes with ------------------, has deprived misfortune of its power.

1) rapprochement

2) transience

3) equanimity

4) forte

15- Out of context many of our seemingly eerie behaviors—if limited to the mere -------------------- of plain description—would raise many an eyebrow.

1) Complacency

2) languor

3) prattle

4) veneer

16- Life has taught me one supreme lesson. This is that we must—if we are really to live at all, if we are to enjoy the life more abundant promised by the Sages of Wisdom—we must put our convictions into action. My ---------------- has been that I have been privileged to act out my faith.

1) eventuality

2) remuneration

3) euphemism

4) escapism

17- Since I have many food allergies, I tend to be a ------------------ eater who enjoys food through the stories of others.

1) vicarious

2) rapacious

3) finicky

4) fallible

18- Not plausible by any standards, an ---------------- four elephants are killed in Africa every hour for the ivory of their tusks.

1) intemperate

2) incongruous

3) unsustainable

4) ominous

19- When a red blood cell reaches any tissue in need of oxygen it releases nitric oxide in order to ----------------- the capillaries.

1) excrete

2) dilate

3) aerate

4) aggrandize

20- ------------------ circumstances surrounding the motive for the assault meant Sean would serve less jail time.

1) Pathetic

2) Minatory

3) Extenuating

4) Excruciating

21- The present system was wisely devised and the ----------------- of the fathers who laid its foundations was something uncanny.

1) ostentation

2) didacticism

3) bravado

4) prescience

22- Cell phone use has become a ---------------- part of our existence; it’s hard to imagine that only 20 years ago cell phones were used primarily in emergencies.

1) quotidian

2) superfluous

3) impeccable

4) incisive

23- Instead of soup kitchens or shelters, the movement tries to ---------------- education between children and their poverty.

1) trespass

2) interpose

3) oscillate

4) inveigle

24- He is expected to start data collection as soon as possible now that his research proposal has received official ------------------ from the university.

1) sanction

2) deference

3) enactment

4) benediction

25- Dugongs are now legally protected throughout their range, but their populations are still in a --------------- state.

1) bootless

2) deterrent

3) vying

4) tenuous

26- ---------------- and inept, the state government surely needs to be replaced.

1) Hilarious

2) Solemn

3) Venal

4) insentient

27- Let no man write my epitaph; for as no man who knows my motives dare now vindicate them, let not prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them rest in obscurity and peace! Let my memory be left in -----------------, my tomb remain uninscribed, until other times and other men can do justice to my character.

1) oblivion

2) limelight

3) retrospect

4) disparity

28- Louie could be a compelling novelist — if only she would ------------------- her storytelling techniques.

1) instigate

2) hone

3) chronicle

4) besmirch

29- Mockery is the first ---------------- form of wit, playing with surfaces without sympathy.

1) delirious

2) prolix

3) ponderous

4) puerile

30- A lucky few can eat anything. Polar bears devour a steady stream of seal blubber, but they cope with the deluge of fat and ----------------- the cholesterol that would cause heart attacks in humans.

1) cover up

2) succumb to

3) shrug off

4) give way to

Part C: Cloze TestDirections: Read the following passage and choose the word or phrase (1), (2), (3) or (4) that best fits each gap. Then mark the answer on your answer sheet.

We had now reached the summit of the loftiest crag. For some minutes the old man seemed too much exhausted to speak.
“Not long ago,” said he at length, “and I could have guided you on this route (31) ------------------- the youngest of my sons; but, about three years past, (32) --------------- such as never happened to mortal man—or at least such as no man ever survived to tell of—and the six hours of deadly terror (33) ---------------. You suppose me a very old man—but I am not. It took less than a single day to change these hairs from a jetty black to white, to weaken my limbs, and to (34) ---------------- my nerves, so that I tremble at the least (35) -------------- and am frightened at a shadow. Do you know I can scarcely look over this little cliff without getting (36) -----------------?”
The “little cliff,” upon whose edge he had so carelessly thrown himself down to rest (37) ---------------- while he was only kept from falling by the (38) --------------- of his elbow on its extreme and slippery edge—this “little cliff” arose, a sheer unobstructed precipice of black shining rock, some fifteen or sixteen hundred feet from the world of crags beneath us. Nothing would have tempted me to within half a dozen yards of its brink. In truth (39) -----------------, that I fell at full length upon the ground, clung to the shrubs around me, and dared not even glance upward at the sky—while I struggled in (40) ---------------- to divest myself of the idea that the very foundations of the mountain were in danger from the fury of the winds. It was long before I could reason myself into sufficient courage to sit up and look out into the distance.

31-

1) the farthest of all

2) accompanied by

3) commensurate with

4) as well as

32-

1) an event happened to me

2) there happened to me an event

3) happened there to me an event

4) it happened to me an event there

33-

1) then my body and soul endured it has broken me up

2) I had to have my body and soul endured broke me up

3) which I then endured have broken me up body and soul

4) breaking me up so as to my body and soul could not endure

34-

1) unstring

2) nonplus

3) exhilarate

4) bungle

35-

1) adamancy

2) euphoria

3) exertion

4) ramification

36-

1) a crush on

2) giddy

3) dolled up

4) into the swing of things

37-

1) and hang over it the weightier portion of his body

2) that the weightier portion of his body hung over it

3) with the weightier portion of his body bung over it

4) on the weightier portion of his body to hang over it

38-

1) faltering

2) forbearance

3) vestige

4) tenure

39-

1) so deep my excitement and perilous my companion’s position

2) so I was excited deeply by my companion’s perilous companion

3) so deeply was I excited by the perilous position of my companion

4) so perilous was the position of my companion that I was deeply excited

40-

1) arrears

2) hindsight

3) bad faith

4) vain

PART D: Reading ComprehensionDirections: Read the following three passages and choose the number of the answer choice (1), (2), (3) or (4) that best answers each question. Then mark the answer on your answer sheet.

Passage 1:

If you find yourself stuttering your way through tourist French, spare a thought for the first modern humans. Travelling from Africa to Asia and Europe about 70,000 years ago, they would have encountered their evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals, for the first time.
What did they say? In the past, many would have answered “not a lot” since Neanderthals weren’t thought to have complex speech. But recent evidence suggests they probably had languages very similar to our own. Surprisingly, we may now have the means to glimpse those utterances in the words we speak today, with huge consequences for our understanding of language evolution.
The argument that Neanderthals spoke like us comes from many discoveries. Archaeological remains show that they had a sophisticated lifestyle, with human traits like caring for the infirm and the sick, and an advanced toolkit, including bone tools and body paint—complex behavior that should only be possible if they had language. We also have some more direct anatomical evidence: traces of nerve pathways through bones in the skull suggest Neanderthals could control their vocalizations, for instance—an adaptation necessary for language that other apes lack. It also looks as if Neanderthals had many gene variants associated with processing language.
So it seems reasonable to assume that their speech would have been similar to our own, with the differences either being down to their vocal anatomy, the way their brains were wired, or simply cultural evolution around the time they diverged from modern humans. The question is, can we guess what it sounded like?
Unlikely as it may seem, there is a way. Here’s the rationale: when two groups that speak different languages come into contact, they exchange bits and pieces of language, like words or grammatical rules. Linguists can detect traces of such interactions even after thousands of years have passed. We know that once modern humans left Africa, they lived alongside Neanderthals and sometimes bred with them. They may have shared cultures, and there is evidence that Neanderthals gave our ancestors the idea for certain tools—so it seems likely they conversed too. The task, then, is to find out whether languages differ between the populations, mostly in Africa, that never came in contact with Neanderthals, and those that would have met them.

41- What is the passage mainly concerned with?

1) The variables that made it possible for the descendants of primitive people in Africa to plant the seeds of the greatest migrations in human history.

2) Whether Neanderthals spoke a language and whether the properties of their speech can possibly be determined.

3) The contribution made by early humans to the development of our present-day linguistic repertoire.

4) What prompted the Neanderthals to traverse a long distance to reach other continents.

42- Based on the passage, which of the following best describes the author’s attitude towards the point made in the statement below?“Traces of our ancient cousins’ words are harder to find than a needle in a haystack—but that’s not going to stop some linguists from trying.”

1) Guarded optimism

2) Pointed opposition

3) Apprehensive and distrustful

4) Deferential but deeply ambivalent

43- According to the passage, the archaeological remains mentioned in paragraph 2 are indicative of all of the following about Neanderthals EXCEPT that they ---------------.

1) featured a number of trails which are still characteristic of human lifestyle

2) enjoyed a sophisticated enough lifestyle to distinguish them from other creatures

3) began to develop anatomical features which made the development of speech possible

4) possessed qualities as diverse as caring for the infirm and the sick, and an advanced toolkit

44- The passage opens with ----------------.

1) a pun

2) a paradox

3) an anecdote

4) an analogy

45- Which of the following can be logically inferred from the information contained in the passage?

1) Body remains of Neanderthals have not yet been found.

2) There is no correspondence between Neanderthals’ nerve pathways and those of apes.

3) Those trying to trace the ability to use speech to genetic codes are obviously erroneous.

4) Neanderthals’ vocal anatomy was probably not identical to that of the modern human race.

46- The word “those” in the last paragraph refers to ------------------.

1) populations

2) modem humans

3) people living outside Africa

4) humans’ early ancestors

47- The function of the question at the end of paragraph 4 “The question is, can we guess what it sounded like?” is to ----------------.

1) accentuate the many uncertainties surrounding the possible origin of speech

2) provide information rather than pose a question that demands an answer

3) pave the way for what is presented in the paragraph that follows

4) cast doubt on the hypothesis raised in the same paragraph

Passage 2:

A revolution in education has been promised with a little help from technology. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free, online university-level instruction that anyone can access from anywhere, at least in theory. They have dominated headlines in the sector in recent years.
Proponents have made bold claims for a fundamental change in higher education—drastically decreasing price and increasing access. Thomas Friedman, in an article in The New York Times, argued that nothing has greater potential to “lift more people out of poverty” and to “unlock a billion more brains to solve the world’s biggest problems. Anant Agarwal, founder of MOOC provider edX, believes they are making education “borderless, gender-blind, nice-blind, class- blind, and bank account-blind.”
However, skeptics counter that they may make colleges more exclusive and exacerbate educational inequalities: affluent students will use the online courses to augment teaching on campus, while the less fortunate will be stuck with automated online instruction with little personal guidance. Others worry about the quality of course content, the ability of students to learn outside the classroom and the creation of a few “super-professors” who reach millions of students while others reach none.
Until now, the debate has been a fact-free zone. Both sides strongly assert their claims but have had little data to draw on. Not anymore. The University of Pennsylvania conducted a survey of more than 400,000 active students in courses offered by the university through Coursera—the biggest MOOC provider—and received nearly 35,000 responses. The results provide much needed information on who is participating and why.
At least in their early stages, these courses are not providing the revolution in access that proponents claim. Two-thirds of participants come from the developed world—the US and other members of the OECD, the club of leading industrialized countries. This is despite the fact that these 34 countries only account for 18 per cent of the world population. And 83 per cent of MOOC students already have a two or four-year diploma or degree, even in regions of the world where less than 10 per cent of the adult population has a degree. Meanwhile, 69 per cent of them are employed.
Furthermore, 56 per cent are male, rising to 68 per cent in the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and 62 per cent in other developing countries. Even more alarming, the gap between male and female participation is far greater for these courses than in traditional education. The 36 per cent gap between male and female uptake in BRICS countries is nearly three times as large as in traditional higher education there. The US is one exception, where males and females participate in equal numbers in both.

48- What is the primary purpose of the passage?

1) Analyze an argument

2) Critique an approach

3) Reconcile opposing viewpoints

4) Suggest a solution to a dilemma

49- Which of the following about MOOC is NOT true, according to the passage?

1) There are people who argue that the plan has somehow failed to live up to the bold claims of its initiators.

2) There are some who claim that it can help ameliorate the lifestyle of the deprived section of society.

3) The facts recently accumulated seem to vitiate the position of the champions of the program.

4) The idea of it first emerged in an article published in a magazine with a large readership.

50- The word “none” in paragraph 3 refers to ----------------.

1) students

2) guidance

3) online instruction

4) super-professors

51- According to the passage, Massive Open Online Courses were primarily intended to ------------------.

1) initiate free, online university courses that could create equality of access to higher education

2) enhance the quality of a deteriorating tertiary level education by capitalizing on technology

3) address educational problems which orthodox teaching methods had already attempted to overcome, but to no avail

4) extend the province of higher education to include those deprived people who are unable to extricate themselves from the shackles of traditional classes

52- It can be understood from the passage that the proponents of MOOC -----------------.

1) are not informed by recent technological developments

2) look on the program from totally divergent perspectives

3) make comments that are not based on hard facts and figures

4) attach scant importance to the ability of students to learn outside the classroom

53- The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?

1) What is the primary motive of the people who have participated in MOOC?

2) Why is it that the majority of MOOC participants come from the so-called developed countries?

3) Why did some of the people which the University of Pennsylvania survey not return their questionnaires?

4) What is special about the proportion of the male US participants of MOOC to their female counterparts?

Passage 3:

Twenty thousand years ago, the average human brain was 10 per cent larger than it is today. Some people, such as David Geary, an eminent psychologist, claim that the dip in cranial capacity marks our dwindling intelligence. Others, like John Hawks, an anthropologist, attribute it to improved brain efficiency.
But for Bruce Hood, the author of The Domesticated Brain and a psychologist at the University of Bristol, UK, the shrinkage is best explained by changes in society. “We have been self-domesticating through the invention of culture and practices that ensure that we can live together,” he writes. Our brains, he believes, are getting downsized by domesticity.
Domestication tends to have that effect. According to Hood, every species that has been domesticated by humans has lost brain capacity as a result Bred for passivity, their testosterone decreases, reducing the size of all organs. Dogs are a good example and the effect on their behavior is telling: where wolves will try to solve a problem through cunning, dogs are adept at soliciting help from their masters.
Drawing on his research in developmental psychology, Hood often enlists parallels between dogs and children to support the notion of human domestication. Like dogs, kids are highly skilled at enlisting assistance. Even infants have the knack, getting parents to fetch an out-of-reach object with a glance. Also like dogs, they are great readers of social cues: only dogs and humans know to follow a pointed finger to an object.
Of course, human culture is more sophisticated than the domestication of dogs, and Hood is highly attentive to differences between humans and other creatures. Imitation is one interesting area or distinction. Chimps and pre-school children both mimic the actions of others in order to learn a new skill. But a chimp will imitate only the motions necessary to achieve the goal, whereas a child also mimics steps clearly unrelated to the task. “why would children over-imitate a pointless action?” asks Hood. Because they are more interested in fitting in than in learning how best to solve the task, he says.
Hood argues that our social adeptness is both a cause and an effect of our self-domestication, and suggests that our social behavior is key to our species’ success. Knowledge can he broadly distributed, disparate areas of expertise collaboratively coordinated, and technology can develop over many generations.
Hood also acknowledges that our socially domesticated brains are responsible for prejudice, and can condone horrific acts, such as genocide. The importance we place on allegiances, for example, is all too easily manipulated by unscrupulous people, and deplorable actions are too readily committed through what Hood calls “diffusion of accountability”.
Understanding the good or bad consequences of domestication is invaluable to us because the self-reflexiveness that made us who we are can also, potentially, improve us in the future. For that important reason, Hood is to be commended for writing The Domesticated Brain at a level that anyone can understand.
That said, in his effort to encompass all of psychology in just 300 pages—evidently the remit of a Pelican Introduction title—he often loses touch with his theme. The result is informative but, sadly, largely formless.

54- The passage refers to dogs’ seeking help from their masters primarily to --------------.

1) argue that smart animals are more prone to brain downsizing than less smart ones

2) bolster the Domesticity Hypothesis propounded by Bruce Hood

3) manifest the effect of brain shrinkage on observable behavior

4) state that brain downsizing is not confined to humans

55- The author mentions chimps and pre-school children in paragraph 5 -----------------.

1) to supply further evidence to buttress an already stated reason to account for human brain shrinkage

2) to argue that dogs are not the only species that bear resemblances with humans

3) to stress the fact that imitation in humans is acquired rather than innate

4) to indicate that Hood’s hypothesis should not be overgeneralized

56- Hood posits that human tendency to fit in with human society --------------------.

1) can help avert atrocities by nurturing a more cultured behavior in human beings

2) manifests its increasing prevalence as horrific acts, such as genocide, continue to expand

3) is a human trait that can be manipulated by some ruthless people to the detriment of mankind

4) may usher in a concatenation of disastrous events in our social life, whose prevention lies in highlighting the importance of allegiances

57- Which of the following best portrays the author’s attitude towards Hood’s argument?

1) Critical

2) Disinterested

3) Cautious

4) Alarming

58- The word “remit” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ----------------.

1) advantage

2) failure

3) payment

4) function

59- According to the passage, the writer of The Domesticated Brain is to be specially acclaimed because the book ------------------.

1) is published by a sponsor whose books are made accessible to a great number of people

2) gives us solutions to all the problems that has long plagued mankind

3) does not require any expertise knowledge to be understood

4) treats its subjects without bias

60- All of the following are used to develop the subject of the passage EXCEPT ---------------.